Admission to the Getty Center and to all exhibitions is free. All events are free, unless otherwise noted. Seating reservations are required for lectures. For reservations and information, please call (310) 440-7300 or see information on planning a visit.

The Calder Quartet explores Messerschmidt's work and modern legacy.

Performance

Gordon Getty Concert: Calder Quartet

The Calder Quartet, hailed by The New York Times as "outstanding" and "superb," performs a special program inspired by the exhibition. The program features quartets from Messerschmidt's time by Mozart, Webern, and Mendelssohn, as well as three commissioned pieces by L.A.-based film composers Bear McCreary, Don Davis, and Mark Mothersbaugh that explore Messerschmidt's work and modern legacy. Tickets $20; $15 students/seniors.

Lectures

From Mozart's Vienna to Freud's Vienna: The Human Emotions in Messerschmidt and Klimt

Two spectacular cultural moments in the history of one city shaped the artistic agendas of Messerschmidt and Klimt as they explored the representation of human emotions. Messerschmidt worked in Mozart's Vienna, and Klimt in Freud's. Larry Wolff, professor of history at New York University, discusses how the cultural values of Vienna during two different eras illuminate their art. Free, reservations required.

Getty Perspectives: The Age of Insight

Eric Kandel, professor of biochemistry and biophysics at Columbia University, outlines our understanding of the cognitive psychological and neurobiological basis of perception, memory, emotion, empathy, and creativity. He examines how cognitive psychology and brain biology have joined to explore how the viewer perceives and responds to art. Kandel illustrates these ideas with portraits by Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, and Oskar Kokoschka. Free, reservations required.

Why the Smile?

Tony Cragg, noted British sculptor and professor of sculpture at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, discusses his work, paying particular attention to issues of human expression, especially as explored in the "Character Heads" of Franz Xaver Messerschmidt.

Talks

Curator's Gallery Talk

Elizabeth Osenbaugh of the Sculpture and Decorative Arts Department, the J. Paul Getty Museum, leads a gallery talk on the exhibition. Free; no reservations required. Meet under the stairs in the Museum Entrance Hall.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012, 2:30 p.m.
Getty Center, Museum galleries

Curator's Gallery Talk

Antonia Boström, senior curator of Sculpture and Decorative Arts, the J. Paul Getty Museum, leads a gallery talk on the exhibition. Free; no reservations required. Meet under the stairs in the Museum Entrance Hall.